


At the Limit

by LetoaSai



Series: StrifeHart Fluff [54]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cloud needs a nap, Healthy Coping, M/M, Morning drinking, Pandemics, Quarantine, family life, stuck at home with seven kids, virtual school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28778682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetoaSai/pseuds/LetoaSai
Summary: Quarantining is damn hard. Quarantining with seven children is something else all together. Tempers are running high and anxiety disorders are flaring. Adding virtual school to it has Cloud wanting to sleep...or drink.
Relationships: Cloud/Leon (Kingdom Hearts), Leon (Kingdom Hearts)/Squall Leonhart/Cloud Strife
Series: StrifeHart Fluff [54]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1108581
Comments: 24
Kudos: 70





	At the Limit

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts 
> 
> We've all been living through this pandemic so i didn't really want to focus on it too hard. I'm not sure if it will come up again or not in this series but i started thinking about this scene so here it is.  
> I hope everyone is doing well.

Was eleven a.m. too early to start drinking? Cloud’s head was killing him and he was sure drinking would help. Medicinal treats would also be appreciated. Being stuck in his house with seven children was a new kind of torture he’d never known before. 

He loved his children, he loved his husband, but being stuck in the house with them was driving him up the wall. 

The fear that ran rampant across the country was palpable and the stay at home orders had been put in effect months before. He understood them. He agreed with them. He knew illness was an awful thing and memories of his mother dying of Geostigma haunted him to this day...But if these kids didn’t get the fuck out of his house… 

Summer hadn’t been so bad. They could play in the yard and Cloud and Leon did what they could to find entertaining things to do while they couldn’t go anywhere fun. It had started off so optimistically. Now however, routines were ruined and both parents really couldn’t give a damn if the kids spent hours in front of a screen or playing video games if it meant they might have fifteen minutes of peace. 

Cloud had needed to shut down his studio which meant he was home more than ever. That was almost exciting at first. He’d always wanted to be home more. After months of worrying over a pandemic that was getting worse, rather than better, staying home had lost its novelty. 

Still, they thought they’d been doing alright until virtual school started. Seven tablets were needed. Seven. Each child needed to be able to do their own work, and fortunately, Laguna had purchased them and shipped them right to the house before they began to sweat it. 

Two kids in sixth grade. Two kids in fifth grade. Two kids in fourth grade and one in third. It was a nightmare. Schedules were different, the wi-fi was strained, and no one knew what the fuck was going on. 

If the kids having to deal with it wasn’t a big enough pain in Cloud’s ass... He was married to a bloody teacher. Things were a little different for Leon being a college professor but his classes were now virtual too. 

Radiant University had attempted to open and quickly shut down after a week when it was clear the dangers were still too high. Leon had refused to go back, refusing to put himself, and thus his children at risk. 

Reiku in particular was one of their bigger worries. With a weak immune system they didn’t want him around anyone that could potentially be contaminated. The boy understood better than his siblings what sickness was like. He’d seen busy doctors and crowded hospitals. He was scared just hearing bits of the news that made even hospitals sound like scary places to currently be. 

For that reason exactly, Cloud and Leon had started either reading the news on their phones or waiting until the kids were in bed to watch it on TV. 

It did however mean that Leon was set up in the kitchen, teaching his students virtually off and on throughout the day. It left Cloud to be the one to oversee his children’s education and that was not something he’d signed up for. 

He fucking dropped out of school at twelve… 

Everyday was different and he attempted to separate the kids in the livingroom by their classes. It worked in small bursts… 

Letting them all try to learn in their rooms just didn’t work. He wasn’t able to supervise all seven at once and the internet was slow up in the attic which wouldn’t have helped Ventus and Vanitas out any. It meant spreading them out as much as he could in a single room and that became a problem when Xion had a sing along while the other kids were in more academic classes. 

All the kids were now wearing headphones, also sent by Laguna and had taken to muting their screens unless the teacher spoke to them directly. It had helped a little.

Cloud couldn’t even watch TV or have his own headphones on because he needed to be around when one of them needed him. The school systems didn’t know what the hell they were doing and stressed out teachers were doing their best but syllabuses were destroyed and programs weren’t ready to have hundreds of students logged on at once.

If trying to get his kids through school wasn’t hard enough, not working was going to kill Cloud. He enjoyed his studio and the mix of classes they were normally able to provide. It was just something he couldn’t manage safely at the moment and the kids wearing masks while practicing and fighting could potentially provide too many medical emergencies. It wasn’t worth it no matter how tempting. 

“Papa.” Roxas commented, gaining his attention. “I think our teacher’s crying again.” 

“She’s doing that a lot.” Sora muttered, as if not understanding the source. 

“Yeah, i’ll bet she is.” Cloud muttered. They needed to send that woman a bottle of wine. It had been weeks of this crap and instead of getting easier it was just getting more frustrating. 

“Mine stopped working.” Reiku mumbled, traces of worry in his voice. The kid always felt like he wasn’t prepared for school. “Did i break it?”

“No, mine stopped too.” Riku said. 

“Internet froze.” Vanitas was annoyed again if his pissed off cadence was anything to go off of. “How are we supposed to do anything if this keeps happening? Can’t they just assign us work and let us turn it in and the end of the week? I can read the book, i don’t need any hand holding.” 

“Until we’re in math class and we can’t make sense of the numbers.” Ventus said. 

“Shut up, Ven.” He grumbled. 

Cloud sighed. “Let me go restart the router. See if that helps.” He’d never seen the oldest twins fight as much as they had been the last few weeks. Everything was getting on Vanitas’ nerves and Cloud could relate. 

He left the kids to their sulking, acting like they were suddenly missing something important from their classes while they’d just been bored out of their minds three minutes prior. It wasn’t like a virtual party was happening now that they were disconnected. 

The router was in the kitchen but by the time Cloud got in there, Leon was already there restarting it, cursing under his breath. Cloud was sure if he looked he’d see a vein pulsing on his husband's forehead. 

Pretending he was still doing something important, he wandered around the kitchen aimlessly for a minute, too tired to bother going straight back into over seeing his kids school day. He did however pull a bottle of liquor from off the top of the fridge and tipped it back to take a hit. 

This had been going on for months and the house was like a war zone, everyone aware that this situation couldn’t be helped but everyone was on everyone else’s last nerve. 

Cloud pulled out a shot glass and poured a second shot before bringing the bottle to his lips again. He was going to have to get Tifa to bring him another bottle again. 

“Squall.” 

“What?” Leon’s voice was filled with aggravation. One wrong move and Cloud didn’t doubt he’d have a laptop thrown at him. Leon was trying, but he didn’t like his teaching being interrupted and that was basically sixty percent of his day now. 

“Fucking what?” he repeated, ire growing as he looked at Cloud who held out the shot glass. He dropped whatever textbook he'd been holding and took two long strides to get to Cloud. Took the shot and downed it in a single gulp. He followed the action up by grabbing Cloud but the back of his head and tugging him closer to steal one bruising, albeit short kiss. 

“Thanks Rain Cloud,” he muttered. “Sorry.” 

“Don’t.” Cloud said softly. “I understand. Really. I know it’s stupid. I know everything's a million times harder than it should be.”

There was no such thing as alone time in a house with seven kids. Even when they were occupied. 

The cries from the living room told them both the internet was up and working again and there were seven voices all unnecessarily explaining to their teachers how things kept disconnecting. 

“Back to it then…” Leon muttered, trudging back to the kitchen table. Cloud had honestly thought the college courses would be easier but he forgot to account for the fact that in some circumstances, college students could be just as whiny. They weren’t having the year they expected either and were all rather put out by it. That did not mean Leon would be holding their hands or dealing with their nonsense. 

Sora and Roxas’ class was on break for whatever reason and since children can’t be still they’d opted to try and play games on their tablets which they weren’t allowed to do during their ‘school hours’.

“No.” Cloud said firmly. “Everyone else is still in class. You have to keep it down.” 

“But they got them muted.” Roxas whined, “They have headphones too. What does it matter?” 

“Respect, Roxas.” Cloud said shortly, a little too curt and annoyed. This was only the hundredth time they’d had this conversation. “They’re in class and daddy is teaching. We have to be quiet.” 

“Not like we’re learning anyway.” Riku muttered and Cloud felt a pain behind his eyes. “I thought not going to school would be more fun than this.” 

“So maybe you will learn to appreciate what you have.” Cloud deadpanned, thinking he needed to go do another shot. 

“I…” Reiku swallowed. “I am. I do. I appreciate it.” His voice was thick with unshed tears. This was not the school experience he wanted. He hadn’t yet gotten to step foot in a classroom that wasn’t Leon’s. 

His mouth wobbled and he turned his tablet over so the rest of the class wouldn’t see him nearly crying. 

“Rei…” Cloud sighed, sympathy battling his annoyance for top spot. The kid had just gotten out of the hospital a few months ago and now no where was safe. “C’mere.” 

Reiku stood, hands covering his face like it would hide him and Cloud just picked him up, trying to reassure him that everything was alright. The boy was still so light for his age, but he was catching up to Riku’s size a little at a time. 

“I’m sorry.” Reiku whispered. 

“Shh.” Cloud all but rocked him. 

“Vani, you can’t just turn it off.” Ventus scolded suddenly. 

Vanitas scoffed at his brother and looked betrayed for being ratted out so quickly. “I just did.” 

“They’ll notice!” 

“Internet problems.” Vanitas shrugged. 

Ventus looked at him like he was stupid. “Which doesn’t work when i’m still logged in.” 

“So turn yours off!” 

“Cloud…” Leon called softly and Cloud didn’t have to ask what the problem was. He could hear the muffled anger. 

“Knock it off.” Cloud snapped. “All of you can have your tablets muted for a time but daddy can’t. He’s teaching. You know you have to be quiet.” He rocked Reiku still. “What’s the problem, Vani?” 

“This is stupid.” Vanitas scowled, even throwing Sora a dirty look when he got up to run down the hall for a pee break. “All of it it stupid. We aren’t learning anything we’re just visiting our teacher and getting one fun fact for the day because there's no time to actually go through a lesson. By the time we start doing anything the connection drops, or our teacher somehow locks herself out of the class again. This isn’t working and it’s dumb but we just fail if we don’t show up. I don’t like this. I don’t like school like this.” 

He looked angry, but more than that, he looked exhausted. Along with a changed routine, altered daily stress, and feeling trapped in the house, there had been an uptick of nightmares in both Ventus and Vanitas. Their sleep was suffering, and therefore, so was Cloud’s. 

“I understand.” Cloud heaved a sigh and could feel that migraine forming. “But keep in mind, it’s not just us. It’s everyone.”

There was a time when he and Leon had been looking forward to the oldest set of twins getting content enough to be snippy. It meant they weren’t cringing anymore or living in terror that some small transgression would get them kicked out of the house. They were comfortable with their place in the house. 

That did however mean that those angry, angsty teenage years were right around the corner, but they could take the win. Ventus and Vanitas were still battling their past trauma but were getting better every day.

“I know.” Vanitas grumbled. “Sorry…” 

“I know, right now this-” 

“Oh c’mon!” Riku hissed. “Papa, the stupid link isn’t working!” 

Cloud sighed, rubbing Reiku’s back. “Riku...keep it down…” Riku scowled like it was his fault. “Rei, you feeling better hun?” 

Reiku was wiping his face and nodded. “I’m okay.” He slid away from Cloud, “I’m okay.” 

Cloud suspected he wasn’t, but the kid was nothing if not determined. He just went back to Riku’s side, stepping over Roxas to pick up his tablet and see if he could figure out what Riku’s problem was. 

Roxas was practically seconds away from falling asleep on the carpet.

“Riku, if it doesn’t work, oh well. We email your teacher and have her send it another way. Don’t stress over something so easily fixed.” Cloud said, watching as Riku nodded. His anxiety just wouldn’t allow him to let some things go without a fight. 

“Vani, the teachers talking to you.” Ventus said. 

“I don’t care.” Vanitas muttered. 

“Will you care more when daddy finds out?” Cloud asked. 

Vanitas actually growled, so unhappy with this new routine but he grabbed his tablet with a scowl to find out what was going on again. 

“Where the hell is Sora?” Cloud grumbled. He wouldn’t put it past the kid to go to the bathroom and then crawl into bed when no one was looking. 

“Mine doesn’t work either.” Reiku said. 

“Damnit!” Riku hissed.

“Riku!” Cloud snapped. “When did cussing become okay!?” 

“But this is dumb!” Riku was breathing hard, and he bit his lip, the tell tale sign that he was about to clam up for the next several hours if not days… 

“Cloud…” Leon’s voice from the other room was low but borderline on edge. 

Cloud had to stop and inhale deeply, feeling like he was standing in the middle of a storm. Would it be one of his kids or his husband and threw a fit first? No one knew. It was a mystery until tempers started exploding. 

For what could have been the hundredth time that day he shook his head, and wished for another drink. “We _have_ to keep it down while daddy’s working. I know being quiet is hard while your at school bu-” 

“I CAN'T BE ANY MORE QUIET!” And...it was Xion. She screamed like the words had been bottled up for hours and threw her tablet across the room in a fit of helplessness. Only the rubber casing it was wrapped in kept it from shattering on impact. 

Truth be told, she’d be the most quiet and well behaved all day but the tension had gotten to her. She was just a child and she’d reached her limit. Xion burst into tears, hiding her face and completely missing the borderline terrified faces from her brothers. 

“Baby…” Cloud couldn’t help it, he crouched in front of her and took her hands. “I know it’s hard. You’ve been an angel.”

She’d gotten herself so worked up that he wasn’t even sure she could hear him. She was crying hard, her eyes squeezed shut and her face already a mess of snot and tears. Her breathing came out choppy and all she could do was reach out to hold into Cloud’s sleeves. 

They were all stressed out. 

“It’s okay, get it out.” Cloud said, and not for the first time wondered if a good cry would make them all feel better. 

Leon appeared in the doorway and while Cloud half expected him to be annoyed still, he’d left teacher mode in the kitchen and strode into the living room in full daddy mode. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked. “What happened?” 

Cloud breathed out a shaky sigh. “We’ve been stuck in the house for months and online school is stupid.” 

Leon grunted, understanding what wasn’t being said and lifting Xion up into her arms like she was a toddler and not a little girl. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” he said. 

Xion was still openly sobbing but wrapped her arms and legs around him. She was such a happy, sweet little girl that sometimes it was hard to remember what she’d been through. She might not have been abused in the way Ventus and Vanitas had been, but she’d dealt with her own monster. Neglect. 

It had only occurred to them after she’d been with them for weeks and weeks… that she did her best to always be perfect as a way to seek attention. She kept her room clean, she did her own dishes, she was happy to help make dinner on nights it was her turn. More recently, she tried to do her online schooling without complaint. 

Her brothers had had time to learn to be comfortable in their new home but she was still learning and was terrified of doing something wrong. 

“I’m… I’m… I’m...Soor-” She cried and Leon rocked her. 

“It’s okay.” Leon said, rubbing her back. “It’s okay. I got you. Online school is stupid. You’re all working so hard to deal with it.” 

Roxas quietly slid her tablet back onto the coffee table and Cloud was relieved to see that it wasn’t broken. At least they really could slide this into the category of tantrum that could be overlooked. 

“Da...ddy.” She cried, holding onto Leon like the world would fall apart if she let go. There was such a fine line between being asked to be quiet and being told to shut up. Sometimes, Cloud wondered which one their kids were actually hearing. 

“Okay.” Cloud muttered. “Everyone sign out for the day. We’re done for right now.” He was sure Leon would send some kind of e-mail to their teachers later with a half-assed explanation. “It’s not okay for every one of us to be this stressed out. Let’s go to the garage and we’ll figured out a way to work out our aggression.” 

“Yeees!” Vanitas hissed, already pressed buttons on his tablet to close everything. 

“Can i just listen to my headphones and meditate?” Reiku asked shyly. 

“Yes.” Cloud said, gesturing for all of them to get up and get moving. 

“I miss going to defense classes.” Roxas commented, more stating a fact then pouting about them not being able to leave the house. 

Cloud grunted. “Well, from now on, when all of you are done with school, well have a class. It won’t be the same but it’ll make us feel better maybe.” 

“We could record it and post it on the studio’s website!” Ventus said. 

“Yeah, cool!” Vanitas agreed and Cloud was glad to see they were getting along again. He was almost startled when Riku ran into him, pressing his face against Cloud’s chest and clinging him him in silent apology from his early outburst. 

Cloud just squeezed him closer. “I understand. We’ll work on how to cope with being discouraged, kay?” 

Riku just nodded, not saying a word as he pulled away to trail after Reiku and Roxas.

Things were difficult and for the time being, there was no end in sight. Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose and decided he wouldn’t have another drink until dinner. “You good?” He asked as Leon still swayed with Xion in his arms. 

“Yeah, we’re okay.” Leon said, pressing a kiss to Xion’s head but she still looked miserable, even as she wiped her eyes. “Now listen, daddy still has to teach, but would you like to sit with me while i do?” 

Xion nodded, resting her head against his shoulder. “Mhmm.” 

“Okay.” Leon said, looking fairly apologetic at Cloud. “You got the others?” 

“Yeah, i gotta track Sora down though.” Though if the kid really was in bed, Cloud had half a mind to leave him there.

Leon nodded and the pair slipped out of the room together. Only a moment later Leon bumped Cloud when he paused to raise an eye into the kitchen. 

“What?” Leon muttered, stepping in passed him and making a disbelieving noise. 

Sora sat in his chair, wearing Riku’s reading glasses and humming as he nodded at the computer screen. 

“So what did you learn next?” he asked, talking to Leon’s college class and acting like he was their new teacher. 

“Good luck with that.” Cloud snickered, heading to the garage to keep and eye on the other five. 

Leon cracked a smile, rubbing Xion’s back as he walked back in. “Excuse me, tiny professor Strifehart but i believe you’re in my seat.” 

Sora looked up bashfully and Leon could hear his students laughing. “Hi daddy…” 

“Scoot over.” Leon said, letting Sora move to the next chair as he sat with Xion. If they wanted to stay, fine. “Well, your tiny substitute seems to be on point. Why don’t we spend the last fifteen minutes reviewing what we’ve done this week?” It seemed better then starting a new topic with such little time left. 

“I helped?” Sora grinned. 

“You helped, now hush.” Leon chuckled and for whatever reason, he felt like his students were paying more attention now that his kids were on camera. Maybe if his kids saw older teens doing it, they’d try a little harder themselves. 

It was wishful thinking but he’d take it.

**Author's Note:**

> This entire scene started because... i wanted to see Sora playing teacher... 
> 
> Series Master List. In order. Mostly. 
> 
> Dreams Mended  
> Out of Order  
> A Winning Distraction (in the middle of Out of Order)  
> Quiet Midnight (in the middle of Out of Order)  
> Radiant Christmas (in the middle of Out of Order)  
> Successful Romance (in the middle of Out of Order)  
> First Dance  
> Bright Light  
> Until Monday  
> Repeat  
> Not enough treats  
> Wager  
> Calling Home (technically just before and just after Wager)  
> Renewals  
> Date Night  
> Sick Lions  
> Bad Memories  
> Not Perfect (could really fit in a few places, here is fine)  
> Patience  
> Long Weekends  
> Fever  
> Melee  
> Time will Tell  
> Rumble  
> Fortitude  
> A Day for Two  
> Summer Sun  
> Homemade  
> Moving on  
> Probably Haunted  
> The Night Before: by Kutikue  
> It’s only two more  
> Safeguard  
> Finding Sleep  
> Wishes  
> Lights out  
> Professional Aid  
> Hope: by Jokul_Nightfury_Frost  
> Match  
> Foresight  
> Surrounded by Kindness  
> Connected  
> Christmas Wisdom  
> On the Eve  
> Face Time  
> Errands  
> Facing Fears  
> Routine Interrupted  
> Before Our Time : by PrinceDestati  
> Well Adjusted  
> Free Advice  
> New Students  
> Stop Growing  
> Incoming proposal  
> Authentic Treats  
> At the Limit


End file.
